Rich Oxenham, inspired by his work with the deaf community, created Inspirisles to incorporate sign language into a tabletop RPG. The Kickstarter campaign for the game in July 2020 surpassed its goal quickly, allowing for expanded resources. Its narrative centers on Pendragons, descendants of King Arthur, battling disbelief to restore magic to their world. Following the initial release of Inspirisles, the second book, Overisles, was launched successfully. A third installment, Underisles, is set to launch on Kickstarter on July 15, 2023.
"I loved learning sign language and it's obviously a really important skill to learn community-wise," Oxenham told Polygon in a video interview. "I linked up with my colleagues and friends at the charity who were deaf, and we got all the material together and launched a Kickstarter."
The July 2020 campaign for Inspirisles hit its goal in less than 10 hours, collecting £31,000, 30 times Oxenham's modest goal of £1,000. The plan had originally been to direct players to the National Deaf Children's Society to learn signing, but the extra funding allowed them to create their own art and sign language sheets.
The game is set in a fantasy version of the British Isles, and the characters are Pendragons, descendants of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. They must fulfill an ancient oath by fighting disbelief, which is sapping magic from the world. Helping others builds belief and heals the World Tree, while violence spreads disbelief.
The trilogy will conclude with Underisles, which hits Kickstarter on July 15. I think of it like The NeverEnding Story, the classic idea that the world is collapsing.
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